ImClone's Drug Fails in Pancreatic Cancer Study

Published: April 11, 2007

ImClone Systems said yesterday that its cancer drug Erbitux failed to help pancreatic cancer patients live longer in a study, a setback for the company's plan to expand the market for its only product.

The research was testing whether Erbitux, given with chemotherapy, extends survival of patients with cancer that has spread from the pancreas. ImClone and its partner, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, announced the results in a statement yesterday.

ImClone counted on positive results to help win Food and Drug Administration approval for the new use. Erbitux, which had $1.1 billion in 2006 sales, was accepted as a treatment for colon cancer in 2004 and won F.D.A. clearance for head and neck cancer last year. The study's researchers, along with ImClone and Bristol-Myers, plan to review the results.

''Pancreatic cancer is extremely tough to treat, and there was some hope on the part of some people'' that Erbitux would be effective, said Brian Rye, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia. ''If it would have worked, the upside would have been greater than the downside is now.''

''In the wake of recent successes Erbitux has had, we think the future is still very bright for Erbitux,'' said Mr. Rye, who rates the shares a buy. ''We do expect 2007 to gain momentum in colorectal cancer and other indications still to come.''

Shares of ImClone fell $2.71, to $39.64.

ImClone has not given up on Erbitux's use in pancreatic cancer and plans additional tests, including a study testing a combination of Erbitux and Avastin and chemotherapy against the disease, the company said.

ImClone is the co-marketer of Erbitux with Bristol-Myers in the United States and receives about 39 percent of the drug's sales through the partnership. Shares of Bristol-Myers rose 13 cents, to $27.79. Both companies are based in New York.

The study, involving more than 700 pancreatic cancer patients, was conducted by the Southwest Oncology Group, a cancer-research network sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.